


A Nickname

by Hester_Of_Ravenswood



Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 01:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18713875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hester_Of_Ravenswood/pseuds/Hester_Of_Ravenswood
Summary: Anadil reminisces on how it all began.





	A Nickname

There were a lot of things Nevers didn't do.

 

Kiss, fall in love, get married, cry, make friends, get happy endings, go on dates, allow physical contact...

 

And give each other nicknames.

 

It was always the full name or a suitable "hey, you!"

 

And Anadil had never found herself really wanting any of those forbidden things.

 

That is until she met Hester.

 

She had kept her wildest (and weirdest) fantasies to herself quite easily, however.

 

That is until one of these rules was violated.

 

It had been in the heat of a very tense situation (when they had been trying to release her rats to attack Tedros so Sophie could be the hero and save her prince) when it first happened.

 

She hadn't realized it at firSt, but when she did her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.

 

It was only three letters, but the nickname meant more to Anadil than anything else Hester had ever done.

 

A simple rule broken, but it made every other rule seem suddenly weakened.

 

~

 

Every time she heard it, her mind blanked for just a moment.

 

"Ani, can you pass me that textbook?" Hester asked.

 

Anadil paused for a second before complying with the request and handing the book over.

 

Hester didn't seem to realize how the nickname affected her.

 

But every time Hester said "Ani," the albino felt as if every rule lost a bit of its power.

 

Like each time they were closer to breaking another rule.

 

~

 

It wasn't long until they were in their second year at school and Hester had officially called Anadil her friend.

 

It was when the new dean had first appeared.

 

There had been a vaguely worded threat toward the coven that Anadil honesty couldn't remember, but she did remember Hester's instantaneous response.

 

"Nobody hurts my friends," she'd growled out.

 

She had admitted both Anadil and Dot were her friends in that moment and both had had mini heart attacks.

 

Especially Anadil.

 

It caused a weird feeling in her stomach.

 

It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it made her feel nervous and excited at the same time.

 

She didn't know if she hated it or loved it.

 

She hoped it was the first, but she was quite certain it was the second.

 

Hester had spun on her heel and stalked off.

 

Anadil and Dot had followed her down the hallway soon after, flanking her sides like always.

 

Anadil knew Hester was formulating an evil plan (and she always loved watching the gears turn in Hester's brain), but the albino couldn't pay any attention to her.

 

She was too busy thinking about how Hester had called her a friend.

 

Nevers weren't supposed to have friends... but the rules seemed to have changed along with the schools.

 

Did this mean...

 

Anadil didn't know what the hopes it meant and stopped herself from going any further down that rabbit hole.

 

She didn't think she would like where it ended.

 

~

 

It wasn't an important moment in the grand scale of things, but for Anadil it was the most important moment she'd ever had.

 

They were sneaking through the hallways, avoiding the dean's creepy blue butterflies that could obviously hear them, when Hester suddenly grabbed onto her hand

 

She tugged the albino to the side of the hall and shoved her into a corner.

 

Anadil had just frozen, staring at Hester.

 

The tattooed with was standing less than an inch away from her and had her hands on Anadil's waist.

 

Anadil stared up at the slightly taller girl and tried to catch her breath, make her pulse slow down.

 

But Hester leaned down so that their lips almost met.

 

"Be quiet," she whispered.

 

Anadil did as told, though she doubted she would have even been able to make a sound if she wanted to with the other witch so close.

 

It was the first time Anadil and Hester had ever really touched.

 

They'd brushed against each other and such, but this was different.

 

Yes, this certainly was much different than those few occurrences.

 

And it seemed like it affected them later.

 

Not only did it leave Anadil flustered beyond belief and struggling for breath, but it also seemed to bridge a gap between them.

 

Hester seemed more comfortable when their hands brushed against each other as they sat together or when they would hatch their plans and they would sit just a bit too close.

 

And Anadil even allowed herself to sidle up next to Hester when they had figured out how to get the schools back to normal.

 

Hester had looked at her with the weirdest expression for a moment before allowing herself to grin and discuss how excited she was to see the Doom Room reopen.

 

Dot discussed how excited she was for book club and Agatha tried to get a word in, but neither witch cared about what they were saying.

 

And that was because when they were this close, nothing else in life seemed to matter.

 

~

 

With each of these villainous rules they broke, they seemed to gain speed.

 

It was like they were rolling down a hill, their momentum becoming greater and greater the farther they went.

 

By the time they got to Avalon, they were comfortable sharing a bed (plus Dot) without batting an eye.

 

Hester even looped an arm around Anadil's waist and pulled her close as they slept.

 

When they awoke, neither witch said anything about it... but both had small smiles on their faces for a little while after they woke up (until Merlin went and ruined it all by talking about the end of the world).

 

~

 

The first time they hugged was after the battle between Old and New.

 

They had just been declared the victors and the two sought each other out.

 

When they found each other, the two both forgot all of their dignity and ran toward each other.

 

Hester even grew a wide smile on her face as she snatched Anadil into her arms for their first ever hug.

 

Hester held her tight around the waist as if she thought that, should she let go, Anadil would just float away.

 

Anadil grabbed her around the shoulders and burrowed her face into Hester's neck.

 

Their hug didn't last long, but it was enough for the two to know that the other cared just as much as the other did.

 

Neither of them were sure how much they cared for each other, but the feeling that their emotions were reciprocated was enough for now.

 

~

 

Anadil had never seen Hester cry... that is before now.

 

It was late the night after their battle when she heard the sniffling coming from the bed beside her.

 

She looked over and saw the tattooed witch trying desperately to stop herself from crying.

 

Anadil stood up and walked over, coming to sit on Hester's bed.

 

The witch looked up with shock and stared at Anadil.

 

The albino gave her the barest of smiles. It wasn't one of joy or of revelry, but instead one of compassion and understanding.

 

She knew Hester was upset and she hoped the expression conveyed that she was empathetic.

 

It, evidently, did as Hester pulled her in for the second hug that day.

 

Anadil couldn't help but feel as if they were building to something...

 

Something incredible and wonderful, unique and magnificent... even if she wasn't sure what that could possibly be.

 

~

 

Their first kiss came later that week.

 

Dot was out of the room and the two were studying.

 

Anadil had looked up and seen Hester staring right back at her.

 

Flint black eyes met blood red ones and they both froze.

 

Their textbooks lay forgotten in their laps as they each tried to figure out what this weird feeling was in their chests.

 

This odd, foreign desire to...

 

Hester's eyes flickered from Anadil's and down to her lips.

 

The albino's face filled with color and she felt her heart start beating three times as fast.

 

Hester leaned forward and, in the darkly lit bedroom, she connected their lips for the first time.

 

Anadil closed her eyes and leaned into it, but even through her eyelids she could see the brilliant red color that covered the two.

 

Through the slightly opened curtain, the sunset's red tint seeped in and cloaked the two in its almost magical light.

 

Anadil wasn't romantic (at least she told herself she wasn't and couldn't be), but this moment was perfect.

 

This red was her favorite color not because it was the shade of her own eyes, but because it was the color of Hester's finger glow.

 

It was like the world had positioned itself just so Anadil and Hester could have the perfect kiss at the perfect moment.

 

Their textbooks tumbled from their laps and fell to the ground, but the loud sound was muffled by the fireworks that sounded in both of their heads.

 

Everything was right with the world, even if it broke more than a few rules.

 

It didn't matter that Anadil's rats were shoved from her hair by Hester's stray hand.

 

It didn't matter that Dot walked in only a few minutes later and almost fainted at the sight of her two friends being so... friendly.

 

All that mattered was that everything that had been building up had reached a brilliant climax right there in front of them...

 

But they hadn't quite reached the end of their journey yet.

 

And it only got better from there on.

 

~

 

It was that same night, after the two had removed Dot from the room and sat awkwardly beside each other for ten minutes, when Hester asked Anadil on their first date.

 

She had accepted immediately and Hester had been left trying to think of the perfect spot for their first date.

 

She had eventually found the most romantic (normally that word would make her want to throw up from disgust, but now it left her stomach feeling off for a completely different reason) place in their whole school.

 

It wasn't the tops of one of the castles.

 

It wasn't the edge of the Ever lake.

 

It wasn't the meadow between both schools.

 

It was the blue forest.

 

Hester had led Anadil through the blue forestry for about two minutes before they found a small picnic she had set up earlier.

 

But it wasn't just anywhere in the blue forest, as Hester soon explained.

 

It was the spot where Aric has stabbed her.

 

It was the spot where Anadil's rat had scurried across the ground and pulled Hester's handkerchief from her boot and thrown it onto the ground to save her life.

 

Hester had originally been angry and willing to murder Anadil...

 

But as Anadil had nursed her back to health with gentle kindness (or as much as the albino ever showed, meaning that she growled and forced Hester to eat and rest with threats of bodily harm).

 

She said that she didn't understand how normal couples could go to meaningless places just because they were 'pretty'.

 

She said that the only real reason something was beautiful was what had happened there.

 

And this is where the albino had saved her.

 

Anadil had had to bite her lip to avoid crying (and even then it had been a close call).

 

~

 

Even standing here today, Anadil wasn't sure when either of them had fallen in love.

 

It could have been their first date.

 

Or it could have been when she'd saved Hester's life.

 

Or even when they had first hugged.

 

But, as the minister spoke and proclaimed them wife and wife, she knew it had started with one simple thing.

 

A nickname.

 

One rule broken and several to follow.


End file.
